


Craigslist Coffee

by justagirlinabookworld



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:44:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6461803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justagirlinabookworld/pseuds/justagirlinabookworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth Chase is petrified of spiders. Truly, horribly, despicably so. So when a giant spider- at least, giant to her- appears in her apartment, there's only one logical thing to do.<br/>Percy Jackson is a self-proclaimed knight in shining armor. When an innocent girl posts an ad on Craigslist asking for help to kill a spider, Percy scoffs. There are scary things out in the world, and he wasn't one of them, so... there was only one logical thing to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Annabeth’s scream echoes throughout her small apartment, her books falling to the floor. She manages to catch her laptop at the last moment, but forgets about her numerous textbooks as she backs slowly out of the door, clutching the laptop as if it will protect her from the monster just a few measly feet away. Her wide eyes locked on the giant black spider on the wall opposite the door, Annabeth’s breathing grows faster and faster until she finally feels safe enough to turn her back and sprint down the hall.

Typing furiously on her laptop, Annabeth ignores the odd looks she receives for having a tear streaked face in the corner of her apartment complex’s lobby. After finishing five minutes worth of hard work, Annabeth waits anxiously for a response from someone, anyone really. Though normally a logical person, the appearance of the spider in her apartment threw logic to the wind, ushering in a mindset of desperation and panic. Seeing the Craigslist notification flit across her screen, Annabeth breathes a small sigh of relief before running a Google background check on the guy and typing in her address in a private message to him. After all, she can’t be too safe after posting a desperate ad on Craigslist, enlisting a stranger to come kill the spider in her apartment, can she? She thinks a Google search is well within her rights.

A man shows up not twenty minutes later, and the irony and awkwardness of having a rather attractive young man come save her while she looks like a mess hits somewhere in the back of her mind. Though still crouched in the corner of the lobby, Annabeth looks through her blond hair to examine the man. He is tall and lean, with shaggy black hair that curls just enough for Annabeth to want to run her fingers through it. She passes quickly over the rest of his body until her eyes finally rest with shock on the object in his hands: a baseball bat.

A sound of surprise leaves her mouth, much against her own volition, but it’s loud enough to alert the man to her presence. He comes to crouch in front of her, his sea green eyes twinkling with amusement and slight concern, though Annabeth can’t be sure if it’s for her safety or his own.

“Hi,” he says, his voice having a calming lit to it that Annabeth doesn’t quite expect. “I’m Percy. I answered an ad about a spider? I have a personal quota of saving at least one pretty blonde girl per day, and I think you meet that quota.” Responding to the odd look that must overcome Annabeth’s face, he continues. “Sorry, I realize that must sound creepy. I was bored and surfing Craigslist at a friend’s house when I saw your ad. I figured I’d check it out before you got stuck with some creepy guy. Though… that probably didn’t make me sound any less creepy…”

Against her better judgement, Annabeth smiles at his rambling, albeit nervously. Percy takes the cue to stop talking, standing up and offering her his hand. She accepts his hand, using it as leverage to pull herself up, but drops it once she gets to her feet. She quickly leads Percy in the direction of her apartment, watching every corner for any other rogue spiders that may pop up.

“I’m Annabeth,” she explains. “Thanks for responding to that ad so quickly. I’ve got a thing for spiders.”

Percy looks at the dried tear tracks on her cheeks, and not unkindly remarks, “I can tell. Listen, though, I’ve got you covered. No need to worry.” He twirls his baseball bat in the air, even once throwing it up and attempting to catch it, though it falls uneventfully to the floor. Percy’s ears turn slightly red, but he picks up the baseball bat confidently, explaining that it belongs to his friend, and he’s more of a swimmer.

Finally arriving at her apartment, Annabeth points at the door and nudges Percy towards it, her fear coming back in full force. Percy seems to sense the gravity of Annabeth’s distress and tries to crack one joke about not missing the shot, but it proves futile. Percy nods, more to himself than Annabeth, and gently pushes open the door to her apartment. Annabeth walks backwards a few more steps, shoving herself into the wall across her door as far as she can.

She jumps and lets out a tiny yelp when she hears a loud crash from her apartment, followed by a quiet stream of cursing. Her hands fly to her pocket, pulling her phone out and opening up a Google search. With her fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard and the sound of her own rapid breathing in her ears, Annabeth barely even notices when someone steps up to her and taps her on the shoulder. Letting out another scream Annabeth would normally hate to hear coming from herself, she drops her phone, grabbing her heart instead.

There, standing just a few feet from her, is Percy, a baseball bat tucked under his arm and a broken container of coffee grounds in his hand.

“What were you doing on your phone?” He asks, amused, not yet bothering to explain her broken coffee jar.

“It sounded like it was getting pretty serious, so I… I was looking up the nearest hospital. So I could drive you after you maimed yourself with a baseball bat or got bit by a poisonous spider.” Annabeth admits her plan a little nervously, but quickly shifts her attention pointedly to her coffee supply. “That doesn’t quite look like it happened, though.”  
For the first time since she met him, Percy looks a little sheepish. “So, uh, I got the spider. The thing is, he was taking a little nap on your coffee container, and I thought I could brush him off but he started moving so… this happened. I could make it up for you, though? Buy you a cup of coffee?” His smile is infectious, and Annabeth can’t help but to return it.

“Yeah,” she says. “I think it’s only fair.”


	2. Chapter 2

Percy is more nervous than he should be to meet Annabeth, considering he was the one who did the knight-in-shining-armor saving. At least, that’s what he calls it. As seen by their recent text messages, Annabeth disagrees with the idea, saying she would have calmed down eventually and killed the spider herself. They both know she wouldn’t have, but choose to ignore it in agreement with their light flirting. Percy had come to adore their playful taunting, and looked forward to it in their daily texts. This time, though, Percy is seeing Annabeth for the first time, in person, since the Craigslist Coffee incident.

Percy straightens his button down shirt, frowning at himself in the mirror. As much as he didn’t understand it, he wanted to look good today; at least, better than he did when he showed up to her apartment the first time, wearing sweats and an old T-shirt. He finally settles on undoing the top button of his shirt, deciding it’s what he felt like he was missing. His charcoal grey shirt emphasizes the vibrant color of his sea-green eyes, and Percy only thought of Annabeth’s eyes once while he was buying it. Well, once that he admitted. It was the first thing he noticed when he saw Annabeth crouching in that corner of her apartment lobby: her eyes were some type of stormy grey that Percy didn’t even know existed. Now, though, it rivals his favorite color, blue, for first place.

Checking the clock, Percy’s eyes grow wide. He grabs his wallet and keys, rushing out the door to his motorcycle. When he told Annabeth about his favorite vehicle, she took it as a slight joke, telling him she’d never be afraid of riding it. In response, Percy had told her she was welcome to ride with him any time, as long as she didn’t distract him. It may have seemed like light joking to her, but he fully intended to show up to her apartment with it. He puts the keys in the ignition, grinning when he hears the engine roar to life.

“Alright, Blackjack. I’m late. Let’s see what you’ve got in you,” he croons to his motorcycle. Shoving his helmet over his head, Percy takes off down the road. Quickly but safely, he arrives at Annabeth’s apartment ten minutes later, bounding up the steps three at a time. Looking at his watch once more, he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees he has one minute to spare before he told Annabeth he’d be at her door. Taking a deep breath, he runs his hands through his helmet-mussed hair before knocking on the door.

Seconds later, he sees the doorknob twitch, as if someone has laid their hand on it. Percy’s heart skips a beat, and it seems like Annabeth waits a full minute before she opens the door. He forgets all about it when he sees her, though. Wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, with her wavy blonde hair coaxed into a high ponytail, Annabeth looks even better than she did when he first met her, and even then—especially then, when she was at her worst—she was beautiful.

“Hey,” he breathes out, suddenly struck by just how long it had been since he last saw her. Trying to regain lost composure, he smirks, asking, “How are you doing, Wise Girl?”  
Rolling her eyes at the nickname he cultured from her putting an ad on Craigslist, of all things, where anyone could answer, she grabs her purse from a table by the door and walks out, locking it behind her. Percy trails behind her, following her out of the apartment until she comes to a stop in front of the parking spots.

Annabeth creases her eyebrows. “Where’s your car?” She asks, confused. Percy waits a second before saying anything, giving her just enough time to scan the parking spots and realize at least part of what Percy has planned.

Before she can say anything, Percy grins, hopping on his motorcycle and offering one of his two helmets to her. “It’s right here. Annabeth, meet Blackjack. Blackjack, Annabeth.” Percy’s grin falters for a second when she hesitates to get on, afraid she’ll refuse their coffee date because he rides a motorcycle. “What?” He jokes, trying to keep his nerves out of his voice. “You scared of spiders and motorcycles?” After just a second more of hesitation, Annabeth shakes her head and smirks, and Percy knows he’s in the clear.  
“No way,” she recovers. “I just don’t want you to get distracted while I’m on the back of this bike.”

Percy scoffs. “Me? I’d never. Hop on. We’ve got a coffee date to get to, and no time to waste.”

Again lost at what he means, Annabeth looks at him through the helmet she slips over her head. “No time to waste? What do you mean?” She climbs on the back of the bike, her legs curling behind his. “We’re just going to a café or something, right? We don’t have reservations anywhere, do we?”

Percy says nothing, reaching back to grab Annabeth’s hands and wrap them around his waist.

“You’ll see,” he says, and Annabeth hears confidence in his voice. “Hold on tight, Wise Girl.”


End file.
